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I grew up as a writer, then I did some light video and got into podcasting. But the majority of my content is the written word. And to get the most out of those words, it helps me to understand the entire content experience is more important than ever. And that applies to content writers as well. Words can tell a story, but how they are formatted and displayed can really help them stand out or fail. When done well, that whole combination drives business storytelling forward.
Let’s look at what writers must know when it comes to the content experience.
What is content experience?
Content experience is the entire way people interact with a brand’s messaging. Of course, that could be in the form of the written word, video, audio, images and even flow on the website. And all these different pieces affect the overall potential for content performance.
For example, I once gave a writer the feedback that their paragraphs and sentences were too long. I was reviewing the content in the website CMS and looked at it in the website design. It was wide and looked that way. But when we took the copy, pasted it into Grammarly it looked just fine and even rated pretty well.
So the problem wasn’t the writing. The problem was the way the writing was being displayed – something the writer probably does have any control over at all. But yet, the totality of the experience will impact performance, which is why it’s important to get the content experience right.
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What writers must know
When it comes to how the stories end up looking to the audience, creators must know the basics:
- How will the content be used?
- Where will it be used?
- What are the formats and other constraints?
I would also say that creators need to understand and have a role in creating the different related content assets. For example, when I write a blog post, I can also think about, plan and perhaps create other assets or copy enhancements that can go with the post, including:
- Images
- Infographics
- Videos
- Podcasts
- Tables with comparison
- Pullout quotes
- Bolded text
- Related content
- And more…
Let’s take the example of a pullout quote. Back in my newspaper days – way back when – the writers would write, somebody else would decide on the pull-out quotes and then put them where those make sense in their sense. But, on the flip side, a writer can also see where a highlighted quote can work as they are writing and even reviewing source content. Just add it where it makes sense.
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What can should be automated?
There are things that can be automated in the system. For example, many usability things on websites should just be checking the boxes. That can include:
- Width of written content
- Placement of content – like centered and uninterrupted, for example.
- Font size – it should be big enough
- Really anything that impacts accessibility and is universal across the site.
Some of those things should just be standard and also should be up to the best practices of good content experience.
Next steps
Lifelong learning certainly is a must to make a writing career in marketing work. And that includes learning about the different areas that affect the content experience. Relevant books could help:
- Sarah Winter’s “Content Design” book
- Content strategy books
- Website design books
- Bill Albert and Tom Tullis’ “Measuring the user experience” book
Consider taking relevant courses on Coursera, including:
So, at the end of the day, the right words matter and are the lifeblood of connecting with our target customers in a way that’s easy and meaningful to them. And to accomplish that it’s so beneficial for writers to understand the whole experience. It will drive results.
Are your writers getting this right?
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